Sunday Sermons
Wisely Using the Present Time
Wisely Using The Present Time
Recently I was listening to a broadcast of This American Life which originally aired on November 7th, 2014 in which it was stated that people in a survey were asked the question, “If there was one futuristic invention that you could own, what would it be?” There was no multiple choice. This was an open-ended question. And off the tops of their heads, 9% of respondents, so roughly 1 out of 10 people, said they wanted some way to travel through time. The desire for the ability to travel back or forward in time topped everything else that people mentioned, except for the desire to cure diseases, and then it was a tie. People wanted to travel back in time more than they wanted robot servants (4%), or world peace (2%). Time travel was three times more popular than jet packs, hover car, and holodecks combined. Various motivations were given for this choice:
- To Stop People in the Past Like Hitler
Some said that they would use such technology to go back and get rid of Hitler by either killing his mother or killing him as a child long before he could rise to power to do so much damage. The Bible does say clearly that one sinner can destroy much good (Ecclesiastes 9:18). Yet there are other factors to consider here. Hitler was clearly evil and dangerous, but Hitler would have never risen to power unless he had a vast support system of other evil men to assist him. There were tens of thousands of other people who were more than willing to carry out his plans. In addition, Hitler made some serious military blunders, which actually shortened the Second World War. Killing Hitler might have prevented the Second World War, or it might have lead to someone else arising that was even more dangerous, that is, an evil person who was equally a military genius. What we need to learn as God's, people, is to stand with the minority and resist the present currents of evil, no matter how prevalent.
- To Warn of Looming Disasters
Some talked about wanting to go back in time so they would warn people not to board the Titanic or skip work at the World Trade Center on the day when the planes were flown into the Twin Towers on 9/11. Yet such a plan assumes that people would have listened to the warning. Actually, we are given an even bigger or more serious task. We are given the task of presently warning the world of the coming Judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Ezekiel 3). Our job is not to warn a limited number of people, that is, just the passengers on some doomed ship, but to warn the entire world (Mark 16:15; Acts 17:30). When the disciples brought up current disasters to Jesus, He obviously did not speak of time travel, but rather of the individual being spiritually right with God now, and thus the need to repent now (Luke 13:1-5).
- A More Personal Mission
Others spoke of desiring to travel back in time so they could meet up with their past self and either prevent themselves from making the mistakes that most hurt them and instead giving their younger self five crucial things that they needed to know to make a better future. Often I have heard people express a similar idea.
- The Things I Would Tell Myself
I thought of making a list of things I wish I'd known ahead of time, but then I realized that whatever list I came up with already exists and existed back when I or anyone else for that matter was in high school. People naively assume that the problem they faced in the past was a lack of information. Yet that was not the real problem. Great advice and information for how to live has always existed. Whatever I would put on such a list, such as “don’t worry so much” (Matthew 6:25ff), or “watch what you say and don’t burn all sorts of bridges with your mouth” (Proverbs 15:1), or, “Work first and play later, don’t waste your money on junk, put back and save some for a rainy day” (Proverbs 6:6ff); or “Avoid dating that man or woman that is no good for you”; or the opposite “Don’t let slide the opportunity to marry that really good woman” (Proverbs 31)—such admonitions have already existed long ago in the Bible. So the idea that my life today would have been much different if I had just heard better information in the past is not necessarily the issue. Most blunders are the result of us refusing to listen to sound advice that was available and freely offered.
- The Forgotten Component
When people desire to go back in time and find their past self and say to them, “Hey kid, come over to here and let me give you some advice”, what they forget is that someone back then likely already played that role. Often the advice was given, even better than we might have expressed it, yet the real difference is how we would have responded. It is easy to daydream and think that if our future self had advised us then we would have carefully listened and taken the advice, yet what people often forget is the second half of this situation, those things called “choice”, “freewill”, “obedience”, “submission” and “unselfishness”. If we did not obey the first time, chances are we would not have listened to our future self as well, because in those situations, often part of us was thinking about the future and was offering such warnings as “Do you really want to do this?” “Do you see what this has done to the lives of others?" "Why do you think it is going to turn out differently for you this time?”
- Someone from the Future Has Been Talking To Us All Along
Every time we pick up the Bible and read it, someone from the future is talking to us. I am reminded of how the Holy Spirit instructed individuals like Cain or the children of Israel. Often the message was of one about the future. The individual was told exactly what would happen if they selected one path over another (Genesis 4; Deuteronomy 30). The same is often true in the book of Proverbs. Clear future ramifications for present choices are frequently given (Proverbs 23). In like manner, Jesus and His apostles did the same thing in the New Testament. We are told that we will reap what we have sown (Galatians 6:7) and we are given the clear consequences of choosing wisely or foolishly (Matthew 5:3-12; Romans 2:6-10).
- What is Truly Impactful
While we might desire to get rid of the Hitlers of the world before they can inflict their harm, or we might want to come up with a cure for some disease to help a lot of people, this is not the way our all-wise Creator set up the universe. Sometimes it is easy to see why:
- I appreciate advances in medicine and cures for diseases, but none of these things have kept people from ending up lost. I don’t want to downplay such things, but one of the unintended consequences of better health is that physical well being often becomes a hindrance when it comes to realizing ones mortality. Frequently it is very hard to convince someone that they need God or need to think about eternity when everything seems to be going well, they feel great and are enjoying good health.
- I also appreciate advances in technology. My cell phone, laptop and the Internet are very handy. Yet I am reminded that all such inventions which can make our lives easier are likewise used for evil purposes. My cell phone is handy if my car breaks down, but phones can also be used to detonate a road-side bomb and kill innocent people. The Internet is helpful to spread the gospel, but is frequently used to spread pornography, steal people’s personal information, commit theft and fraud and lure souls into the dark side. So my “great invention” that was intended to bring so much good into the world might be used to do more harm than good in the long run.
- I am simply impressed that the most impact for good that I can have in this world is to be the best Christian I can be. Nothing can take the place of being a righteous person in the midst of a crooked generation (Philippians 2:16). So the real project that I need to be working on —is me, because that is really where I have the control. People can steal or misuse my inventions, but no one can misuse or steal my example.
- It is very easy to daydream about the past and the present, yet what the Bible focuses in on is the present, for what we do in the present will affect our future. With all the miracles that God has performed, He never used time travel to fix anything. The cure has always been in the wise use of the present (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7). Let's determine today to make the sacrifices necessary to build a spiritually joyful future.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
